Seventies Euro Specials – Celtic v Inter Milan 1972

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·8 avril 2026

Seventies Euro Specials – Celtic v Inter Milan 1972

SEVENTIES EURO SPECIALS – CELTIC v INTER MILAN, 1972…

Celtic v Inter Milan, European Cup semi-final, 19 April 1972. Photo The Celtic Wiki

On 19 April 1972, Glasgow hosted the semi-finals of both major European club competitions on the same evening. Celtic faced Inter Milan in the second leg of the European Cup semi-final, whilst Rangers played Bayern Munich at the same stage of the European Cup Winners’ Cup. In a scenario which would be unthinkable today, 75 000 were at Celtic Park whilst 80 000 were at Ibrox. The latter game started at 7.30 pm, whilst the Celtic match kicked off at 8 pm, to accommodate the TV audience in Italy.

Vidéos OneFootball

Jock Stein observed: “I don’t think there’s any country could say that they would dare put on two European ties on the one night, as Glasgow did.” (Graham McColl, Celtic in Europe) Also unusual was the fact that the Rangers match was selected to be shown live on TV in Scotland, rather than the semi-final of the world’s most prestigious club competition. Only one match could be shown live at a time so, when the Rangers game finished, Celtic fans were able at least to watch the extra-time live.

Celtic v Inter Milan, European Cup semi-final, 19 April 1972. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Jock Stein had predicted that the Italians would come to defend, and he was proven absolutely correct. In Celtic in Europe, Evan Williams recalls of Stein: “He knew them inside out and he kept saying that they would slow us down and stop us playing and stop the flow of the game and that was exactly what they did.” Inter’s defensive instincts were further reinforced by the loss of their star striker, Roberto Boninsegna, who had been injured in a league match against Fiorentina on the previous Sunday. This left only Sandro Mazzola, scorer of the penalty against Celtic in Lisbon, as Inter’s sole attacking threat.

In fact, Celtic started brightly and almost all their chances came within the first 20 minutes. As John Rafferty described in The Scotsman: “Celtic in the first 15 minutes were swarming like excited ants in the Inter penalty area. In one furious minute, Dalglish had a header saved, Johnstone hooked over the bar from close in and Craig had another solid effort beaten down.” These could all be best described as half-chances.

The one clear chance fell to Tommy Callaghan. Unfortunately, after being cleverly set up by Macari, Callaghan could not control the ball sufficiently to make a decent strike and the chance was missed.

The game then developed into a stalemate. Inter simply stopped Celtic from playing, withdrawing their whole team to the penalty area and denying Celtic’s players any space. In such a contained area, Lennox, Dalglish and Macari could barely move. Jimmy Johnstone, so often the one player who could produce a match-winning piece of magic, was man-marked out of the game superbly by Gabriele Oriali.

Early in the second half, with the Inter defence under pressure, Burgnich attempted a headed clearance which rebounded against his own crossbar. Although it would have been an own goal, this was the last real chance created, as Inter’s stultifying tactics disrupted Celtic’s rhythm and stalled their impetus.

For much of the second half, Celtic were forced into hitting high crosses into the box but the Italians coped comfortably with these. As the match wore on, the Italians looked increasingly comfortable against a Celtic side which had no answer to the stultifying tactics. With around 30 minutes to play, Dalglish was substituted by Dixie Deans but it made no difference.

In addition to their admirable defensive organization and skills, Inter also used cynical fouls, feigned injury after tackles, repeated passbacks to their goalkeeper and every other time-wasting trick in the book to run down the clock. As Graham McColl states in Celtic in Europe: “It was clear that the Italians wished only to claw their way slowly to the end of the game without either themselves or Celtic having scored.”

The pattern continued for the 30 minutes of extra-time: “These clubs might have played for a week and never scored. Celtic, because they had no finishing power; Inter, because they had only a defence and Mazzola.” (John Rafferty, The Scotsman).

Celtic v Inter Milan, European Cup semi-final, 19 April 1972. Photo The Celtic Wiki

The tie would now be decided by penalty kicks, which were introduced to European competition in season 1970/71. Celtic against Inter would be the first time in which they would be used to decide a European Cup semi-final.

Celtic had been well-prepared by Stein for this situation. He had sensed that Inter would be willing to gamble on keeping the tie goalless and aim to win the penalty shoot-out. As a result, Celtic had been practising penalties in the days prior to the match and striker Dixie Deans was the most accomplished taker.

In April 1972, few if any of the thousands watching had ever witnessed a penalty shoot-out. Sandro Mazzola took the first penalty kick and, as he had done in Lisbon nearly five years earlier, calmly stroked his penalty past Williams. Taking Celtic’s first penalty was Dixie Deans. Although initially feeling confident, Dixie appeared to change his mind just before he hit the ball, leaned slightly backwards and blasted his side-footed shot over the bar.

Jock Stein gives instructions to Jimmy Johnstone April 1972, Celtic v Inter Milan, European Cup semi-final, 19 April 1972. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Because his shot was rising all the way, the miss appeared much greater than it was, with the ball appearing to soar high over the bar. A cartoon in the Daily Record depicted American astronauts, who had just landed on the Moon, calling Houston: “Apollo 16 to Ground Control. Tell Dixie we’ve found the ball!” In fact, Deans had missed the frame of the goal by only a foot or so.

Giacinto Facchetti, a Nerazzurri legend even at that time, took Inter’s second penalty and it was almost saved by Evan Williams. The Celtic keeper managed to get contact on the kick but could only succeed in deflecting it into the roof of the net. All the remaining penalties were tucked away confidently and, when Jair scored the fifth for Inter, Celtic were out. Even though Celtic could not equalize, at that time the formalities had to be completed, which meant that Bobby Murdoch had to take Celtic’s fifth penalty. He duly scored but Inter had won 5-4 on penalties. As Raymond Jacobs wrote in the Glasgow Herald, “Sadly, undeservedly, and by the most bitter of means, Celtic are out of the European Cup”.

Dixie Deans. Celtic v Inter Milan, European Cup semi-final, 19 April 1972. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Afterwards, some criticised the decision to task Deans with the job of taking the first penalty, arguing that he lacked the experience necessary for such a massive responsibility. Certainly, Celtic’s list of penalty takers is surprising. Of Dixie Deans, Jim Craig, Jimmy Johnstone, Pat McCluskey and Bobby Murdoch, only Deans and Johnstone were recognised goalscorers. Many years later, Deans himself suggests the reason for this: “I don’t want to name names, but there were a few big stars in that Celtic team who weren’t having any of it when it came to the crunch.” (The Sun, 19 July 2004).

Even immediately after the match, some were quick to point to the relative lack of overall experience of this Celtic side. In his 1972 book You’ll Never Walk Alone, published within a few months of the game, Gerry McNee speculated that the guile of Bertie Auld could have been enough to have made a crucial difference: “They needed a master-craftsman to probe for weaknesses.”

In Celtic in Europe, Evan Williams agreed: “I think we were missing a little bit of magic…because Bertie could do things to open games up.” Others suggested that Tommy Gemmell’s shooting or John Hughes’ unpredictable power could also have proved decisive. Others were perhaps more realistic. Malcom Munro of the Evening Times insisted “this was not vintage Celtic” and argued that there were too many long, high, hopeful balls played to forwards who lacked height.

Celtic v Inter Milan, European Cup semi-final, 19 April 1972. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Regardless of the recriminations, everyone agreed that it was a bitterly disappointing and cruel way to exit the competition. John Rafferty of The Scotsman observed: “Celtic missed the final of the European Cup in the most frustrating and irritating way.” In Celtic in Europe, Bobby Lennox recalled, “When a team wins on penalties they have not proved themselves to be a better team than you.”

The last words on this episode are best left to Jock Stein. Writing in The Celtic View Summer Edition in June 1972, he said: “[Celtic] came within a whisker of reaching the final and possibly winning the trophy. We may have a better team in the seasons ahead, but who can say with certainty that we will ever have a better chance of winning Europe’s supreme trophy?”

Stein’s words were to prove prophetic.

To date, Celtic have never again come as close to reaching the European Cup Final.

Meanwhile, in May 1972, Inter would approach the European Cup Final in the same negative, defensive and ultra-cautious way. Their tactics would founder against the Total Football of Ajax and the individual brilliance of Johan Cruyff, who provided exactly the type of creativity which Celtic had been lacking during 210 minutes against the Italians. This was an Ajax side arguably playing at its peak and they won comfortably, with Cruyff scoring both goals in a 2-0 victory.

As for Celtic, there was always next year. Sadly, that was to prove wishful thinking…

By James McDevitt

Post your own thoughts in the comments section below…

Quick Tip – Add thecelticstar.com as your ‘Preferred Source’ on Google News for quick access to the Celtic content you value the most. It takes just a few seconds and you’ll notice the difference straight away! – Click HERE….Hail Hail!

Click to join Celtic Pools